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There were two reasons I decided to give The Night Garden by Lisa Van Allen a try. The first was that it was on sale for cheap on the nook, and the second was that it was recommended for fans of Sarah Addison Allen's books. I am a HUGE fan of Addison Allen's books. They always leave me feeling happy whenever I read them.  First off there are similarities, both books deal with women who seem to have a magic gift with plants. I do think that Van Allen's character had a slightly darker storyline and parts definitely reminded me strongly of Sleeping Beauty. That said, this book didn't capture me the same way that Addison Allen's do. It fell flat, and I could predict the outcome. The Night Garden's descriptions lacked the prose of Addison Allen's books. I didn't feel like I'd entered this different viewpoint of a place in The Night Garden. That said, I did enjoy it as a quick, easy read. If you are looking for garden-magic, fairytale-like story,...

 I recently started volunteering in the cattery at Austin Pets Alive! (APA!). Naturally I knew it was only a matter of time before I found the perfect kitten to take home. Actually, it was my second time going there when I got my first kitten. L: Pekoe, the boy - R: Mochi, the girl I saw her profile online first and knew I had to meet her. She turned out to be the perfect sassy, but super sweet kitty. I adopted her that day and took her home. What I didn't know when I read her profile was that she only had one brother, whom she'd never been apart from. I did meet him too, but I was worried about getting two. So, I didn't adopt him. She did really well when I was around, but found it hard when I wasn't in sight. After two and a half days of regretting not getting her brother, I decided to call and ask if he'd been adopted. He hadn't! He had been moved to one of APA!'s offsite catteries, though. It was a bit far, but I drove out and picked him up that...

The gist of Sophie Kinsella's Finding Audrey is that a traumatic event happened to the main character, Audrey, shortly before the story takes place. When we meet Audrey she doesn't leave home apart from doctor's appointments. She wears dark sunglasses at all times, finding it hard to look people in the eye. It's not until she meets Linus, a friend of her brother, that she finds someone she can talk about her fears to. Rating: 3/5 *Potential spoilers ahead*  Kinsella conveyed Audrey's emotions quite well in the early parts of the book. The frustration at not getting better quickly, the exhaustion of always being on edge, and how hard seemingly simple interactions can be. By having Audrey refer to her anxiety as the lizard part of the brain, she accurately portrayed how out of control it feels. In the beginning we are shown Audrey's family and given a good sense of their relationships through Audrey's narrative. Her mother comes across as a bit...

Although I lived and worked in the Bundang area of Seongnam, I spent relatively little time there on the weekends. Generally I made the trek into Seoul for at least half the weekend. In my last month one of my friends convinced me to go visit a park a couple stops away in Seohyun. It didn't disappoint! The weather was really cloudy, but the rain held and we were able to chill. This last photo is from a different, equally cloudy, day. It's actually the view from my apartment window.

Most of the peacocks were up in the trees Yesterday my family decided to go to our favourite special occasion restuarant in Austin, Green Pastures. I love the historic home it's in, and the food is always delicious. Although, I think I've always ordered to tofu and roasted veggies as my entree. It's just so tasty, I don't want to deviate. Above all, possibly my favourite part of going there is the peacocks that live on the property. Those birds seem to have run of the whole neighbourhood, too. You can see them on the neighbour's lawns when they wander off property. June marks a lot of new starts for me, which I'm excited for. Most of May has been spent getting my feet on the ground here. Somehow, the move here has been harder than I thought. Thinking on it, I've probably had reverse culture shock . I experienced it when I returned after four months, so it should come as no surprise it happened after eight. Also, Austin feels like a much larger jump bac...

Sunset after a storm is gorgeous, though. I seem to be a curse whenever I come to Austin. The city experiences just the absolute worst weather when I'm here. In the winter I always manage to arrive just as the temperature dramatically drops. It also rains just about every time I come here. Since I arrived at the start of May, it has rained most days over the past few weeks. Just this past weekend there were tornado warnings for hours throughout the various counties with several touching down. There was major flooding, including downtown Austin. It's crazy, really. My friends and family say I brought this weather and really should not move here. I swear I am not the "Elsa of rain," I can't make it rain. That's ridiculous, but I do feel Austin and I have an unlucky relationship when it comes to weather.

I've been eying these since Skunkboy announced her collaboration with Bonlook. I missed out the first time they went on sale, since my prescription doesn't include my PD. However! A couple weekends ago they were back on sale. So, I stopped by the optic center while we were at Costco. Skunkboy in "Posey Pink" I am in love with the colour, which is the most perfect pastel pink that's not too powdery. The vintage shape is very different from my usual frame choices, but these are meant to be my fun pair. Also, how can you complain about glitter? I ordered a pair of prescription sunnies from Bonlook, as well. I'm really impressed with the quality of both pairs. I would definitely order from them again. They have have the cutest pink cases, which come in these lovely white boxes to protect them. And with this, Friday is my fashion day (glasses count as an accessory, sort of...right?)